


a non-happy ending

by starsandfluff



Category: Next to Normal - Kitt/Yorkey
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Hopeful Ending, Insecurity, Kissing, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-28 19:14:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19400611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandfluff/pseuds/starsandfluff
Summary: Natalie and Henry work on their homework together after school. Henry can tell Natalie's worried about something.





	a non-happy ending

**Author's Note:**

> I did it! I wrote a thing! Anyway, I hope this isn't too angsty it was meant to just be a fluffy little hey #4 but idk. Hope you like it!

“Hey,” Henry said, placing his hand on Natalie’s. He set down his pencil on his notebook and looked into her eyes, noting the lack of dark circles under them.

“Hey?” She asked.

“Tell me,” He said, giving her an encouraging smile.

“What?”

“You want to say something,”

“What are you talking about, Henry?”

“You’re doing that thing again,”

“What thing?”

“You always push your feelings down, Natalie. I’m not your parents, you can talk to me, yell at me, whatever, I’ll listen,”  _ You aren’t an invisible girl, not to me, at least.  _ He thought.

“I just, the one thing I’ve always wanted is to get away,” She said and Henry nodded.  _ I wished I could fly away, just be anywhere that wasn’t here.  _ Natalie thought.  _ Now, maybe, having my feet on the ground isn’t so fucking unbearable. Henry’s here. And Mom and Dad are too, I guess. I’ve wanted to leave for so long, now that it’s in reach, it doesn’t seem like some perfect paradise anymore.  _ “but now we’ve started senior year and I already have my scholarship, and,”

“It’s scary, yeah, I get that, but we’ll figure it out,”

“Will we?” Natalie asked.  _ My mom broke in college, after the baby and all. Happy endings are fucked up jokes. What if bipolar disorder is triggered in me? What if I never finish college? What if I burden my parents and Henry? What if I let them fuck with my brain, fry it like Mom’s? What if I’m so fucking far from normal or perfect or okay? What if I never make it? What if I take Henry down with me? We’d sink like Titanic but faster. What if— _

“Hey,” Henry said, wiping away the tears from her cheeks.

“I might—”

“You might, I might, we both might end up fucked up,”

“I have a genetic predisposition,” Natalie stated, giving him a serious look.

“And I’ll be right here, perfect for you, remember?”  _ That was our promise, I’m not breaking it anytime soon.  _ He thought.  _ What if I’m not perfect for you? What if I am something in the world that hurts you?  _ She thought.

“Henry,” Natalie sighed.

“I’ll take care of you, I promise,”

“It’s awful work. I would know, I’ve taken care of myself for seventeen shit years. Could be useless too, if my genetics have any say. But seriously, it’s fucking horrible to look after me,”

“Not to me, not if it’s you,” Henry said. 

“You won’t want to stick around forever, I’ll hold you back,”

“ _You_ would hold me back? Yale-bound Natalie Goodman and the reason I even study—”

“Hey,” Natalie said, blushing. _“I will be perfect for you.” He’d said._ Natalie thought. _He stuck through drugs and drinking, and clubs and me pushing him away. Maybe we’ll just make it through college. I’ll have to stick around to see Mr. MacGyver’s new pipes, anyway._

“Hey,”

“I’ll take care of you too,” Natalie said, smiling at him.

“Sounds perfect,” Henry said. They both leaned in for a soft kiss, before returning to their homework. But, for the time being, they were both perfectly happy at that dining table studying together. It wasn’t a happy ending, of course, but Henry and Natalie didn’t give a shit about those and this wasn’t an ending. They were perfect for each other, and that was better than any so called ‘perfect’ fairy tale ending.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I had fun playing with their inner thoughts and making little references to Perfect for You, the reprise, and the off-broadway version! :)


End file.
